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Huge new 'Irreverence' album from the French electronic quartet on Dim Mak Records

Interview : Dan Prince

Boys welcome finally to DMC! The massive new album ‘Irreverence’ is coming out soon and you are in the middle of a huge 30 date North American Tour…where have some of the highlights for you so far, we hear Coachella was off the hook…

“Yes Coachella was insane. Being able to play at this legendary festival two weekends in a row is a unique experience and the vibe we got from the crowd was huge! The thing is every single show is vey important for us, whether it’s cities we’ve already played in the past or new ones. We love what we do and we love to share it. You can follow our adventures in the video series we’ve started on our Youtube channel and see that we make every single gig a highlight of the tour!”

Here is a quote from a Canadian newspaper after one of your shows last week…”No words on the page can justly describe the brand new Dirtyphonics live show. It goes without saying it is absolutely ferocious, both in terms of the music as well as their stage presence.” Two questions…

How have you upped your stakes on stage performance wise this time round, what's different?

and…

Were one of you sleeping with the journalist!?!!!!

“Ha ha - Who was the journalist? Well we’ve started using Native Instruments Machines which give us more flexibility than before and it’s also more visual. But the main difference on this tour is that it’s the first time we have our own stage production – “The Crown”. We’ve designed it ourselves and had PK (a Canadian company) build it. It gives our show an extra dimension and links the music and our performance into a brand new and unique experience. Come and see it for yourself!”

“There are 4 of us in the band, we all have our own influences” you once said in an interview - and then listed artists such as Metallica, Daft Punk, Wu-Tang Clan, Rage Against The Machine and Beastie Boys as key influences. Who were the artists in the Drum & Bass and Bass scenes that you sat up and took notice of when getting into both scenes?

Pitchin – the missing link who helped complete the puzzle when joining four years ago with your turntablism skills. DMC are of course the company responsible for the The World DJ Championships that have helped push the turntablist art form since 1982. How important have the DMCs and artists such as C2C been to you over the years?

PitchIn: “Well, I’ve never been what you can call a turntablist in the DMC way. The DJs that have influenced me the most are Andy C, Laurent Garnier, Marky…those guys have influenced the DJ artform and the evolution of the equipment in a different way than pure turntablism”.

Tell us about the current Bass scene in France, where is rocking…?

"Paris obviously holds a strong spot but thanks to the Jungle Juice and Splash gigs and a massive bass heads community it has spread everywhere. Toulouse, Strasbourg, Lyon…France used to be a bit behind in terms of bass music but now, go and ask the artists and they will all tell you about the Cabaret Sauvage or the Machine du Moulin Rouge in Paris…"

You have been smashing some of the biggest festivals in the world these past few years; Glastonbury, Electric Daisy Carnival and SXSW have all received the full Dirtyphonics treatment. What has been the greatest show to date?

"It’s very hard to choose a specific one as we’ve had so many awesome experiences but we clearly can’t wait to go back to EDC Vegas. There also are new places we’re very excited to play at this summer. Global Dubs at Red Rocks, Orion fest, Shambala, Camp Bisco…"

Tell us about your live set up on stage, I can remember being back stage somewhere and seeing a Game Boy sitting alongside your equipment!

“Haha. We don’t use the Gameboy anymore…we now have 4CDJs 2000, 2 DJMs 900nexus, 2 NI Maschine and 2 kaos pads, and A LOT of energy!”

One of the things we love about your live sets is you are always going into the unknown, anything can happen on stage musically. How does it make you feel when you see certain EDM artists on stage in front of 50,000 people playing pre-recorded sets?

“Each artist has a different way to see and play the music. We found our unique way to play on stage, something that works for us and gives us adrenaline. We come from a Metal background where you don’t pre-record your guitar parts and we wanted to keep the same live tension on stage.”

What tune from the album has been the star of the show to date in the States?

“We’ve been super lucky to see that all the tunes of the album get people crazy yet, if we have to choose one it would probably be No Stoppin Us. Wait, Walk In The Fire….too hard to choose one really.”

Who is in charge of the music on the tour bus? What sort of stuff gets played?

“Our merch guy Abe who’s one of the only dudes who’s not a DJ. He has a great music selection including a bunch of Top 40 hip hop haha…”

The album is out on Dim Mak – what is about that label and their philosophy you liked?

“Two things were very important for us when we chose who to release the album with. We first wanted to feel part of a family, have a direct contact with the people we work with and make sure they are available for us. The second thing is we wanted to keep 100% of our creative freedom. Dim Mak was the perfect match and we’re really happy we jumped on this adventure with them.”

A friend of DMC’s was sure they you skateboarding around Los Angeles recently. Was he bullshitting?

“No he wasn’t, we used to skate a lot when we were younger and we obviously don’t have much time now but when we can, we love to bring boards on tour and ride different cities and countries. Skateboarding is in your blood, it never goes away…”

What is coming out next from the Dirtyphonics studio…?

“We’ve just finished a remix for Linkin Park that should be out soon and we’re now working on a bunch of new material in the bus. We’re also starting some exciting collabs but it’s a bit early to talk about them. Keep your ears open…”

And finally, most people have beer and vodka on their riders. You have a dog. What is the most trouble a poor promoter has gone to make sure you have got a dog back stage for you to cuddle before a show?

“Actually, some promoters where smart enough to understand the joke and bring us stuffed dogs instead or real ones. It’s became a tradition since then and we have a growing collection!”